System and method for claw back and price protection

ABSTRACT

A computing system includes one or more processors and one or more computer-readable storage media having instructions stored thereon that, when executed by the one or more processors, causes the one or more processors to receive a pending purchase order from a user device in response to a selection of an interactive element presented on a payment page of an online store via the user device, the pending purchase order corresponding to a purchase of a good or service from the online store and including payment information, store the payment information in an escrow database for a window of time, generate a notification corresponding to the pending purchase order, the notification including information corresponding to the good or service and excluding the payment information, and transmit the notification to a merchant system associated with the online store to reserve the good or service during pendency of the window of time.

BACKGROUND

In the digital age, online purchases for goods and services are commonoccurrences, where a consumer browses an online store or catalogoffering various goods and services for sale and purchases the goods andservices from the online store or catalog. The online store or catalogmay be specifically associated with a particular merchant, or may be ageneral online shopping website, platform, or application that offers avariety of goods and services for sale from various suppliers (e.g.,merchants or individuals). When the consumer purchases a good or servicefrom the online store or catalog electronically, the consumer generallyprovides payment information to initiate an electronic transfer forpayment in order to receive delivery of the good or service. In thiscase, the consumer generally provides the payment information in anelectronic form via the online store or catalog, and submits the paymentinformation electronically to be processed. Once the electronic paymenthas been submitted and processed, the consumer's order is processed forfulfillment (e.g., scheduled for delivery). Due to the nature ofelectronic fund transfer and online stores, platforms, and applications,clawing back submitted electronic payments is different from clawingback payments made during face-to-face transactions. Clawing backsubmitted electronic payments poses unique challenges in the context ofonline stores, platforms, and applications.

For example, after the electronic payment has been submitted andprocessed, the consumer is generally prevented from cancelling or makingany changes to the order, or may be given only a short period of timeimmediately after placing the order to cancel or make changes to theorder. Thus, the consumer may be unable to make changes or even cancelthe order after the payment has been submitted and processed. In thiscase, if the good or service is non-refundable, the consumer may bestuck with the good or service once the electronic payment has beensubmitted and processed. Further, even if the good or service can bereturned for a refund, the consumer is generally required to first waituntil the good or service is delivered, and then must ship the good orservice back to the merchant or supplier in order to receive the refund.Accordingly, the funds used to pay for the good or service may betied-up for several days or even weeks until the returned good orservice is received and processed for the refund.

On the other hand, some online stores or catalogs offer an electronicshopping cart or wish list that the consumer can add items (e.g., goodsor services) to for later purchase. These electronic shopping carts andwish lists enable the consumer to keep track of the items added theretowithout actually purchasing the items. Thus, the items added to theelectronic shopping cart or wish list are not treated and processed likeactual purchases. Instead, when the consumer is ready to purchase theitems added to the electronic shopping cart or wish list, the consumeris generally required to navigate back to the electronic shopping cartor wish list, select the items to purchase therefrom, and submit thepayment information for the items to be processed as a normal purchaseorder. However, since the items in the electronic shopping cart or wishlist are not treated like actual purchases, by the time the consumer isready to actually purchase the items, the items may be sold out or thesales price of the items may change.

These problems in online purchases are further exacerbated when severalparties are involved with an online purchase. For example, a child mayhave to wait for a parent or guardian to purchase a good or service froman online store or catalog, or may purchase the good or service from theonline store or catalog without first receiving permission from theparent or guardian. In another example, a consumer may wish to researchthe good or service or receive input from others (e.g., friends, family,experts, etc.) before actually purchasing the good or service. In yetanother example, a group purchase of a good or service may require inputfrom each party in the group or may require funds provided from eachparty in the group for a portion of the sales price. In still anotherexample, an employee may need authorization from a manager in order tomake a purchase. In each of these cases, unauthorized purchases ordelays in purchasing the goods or services can lead to funds beingunnecessarily tied-up, lost opportunities, and/or higher costs.

SUMMARY

One arrangement of the present disclosure is related to a computingsystem including one or more processors and one or morecomputer-readable storage media communicatively coupled to the one ormore processors and having instructions stored thereon that, whenexecuted by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processorsto receive a pending purchase order from a user device in response to aselection of an interactive element presented on a payment page of anonline store via the user device, the pending purchase ordercorresponding to a purchase of a good or service from the online storeand including payment information, store the payment information in anescrow database for a window of time, generate a notificationcorresponding to the pending purchase order, the notification includinginformation corresponding to the good or service and excluding thepayment information, and transmit the notification to a merchant systemassociated with the online store to reserve the good or service duringpendency of the window of time.

One arrangement of the present disclosure is related to a methodincluding receiving, by one or more processors of a computing system, apending purchase order from a user device in response to a selection ofan interactive element presented on a payment page of an online storevia the user device, the pending purchase order corresponding to apurchase of a good or service from the online store and includingpayment information storing, by the one or more processors in an escrowdatabase coupled to the one or more processors, the payment informationfor a window of time, generating, by the one or more processors, anotification corresponding to the pending purchase order, thenotification including information corresponding to the good or serviceand excluding the payment information, and transmitting, by the one ormore processors, the notification to a merchant system associated withthe online store to reserve the good or service during pendency of thewindow of time.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above and other aspects and features of the present disclosure willbecome more apparent to those skilled in the art from the followingdetailed description of the example arrangements with reference to theaccompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a diagram of an example of a system for providing automatedpayment escrow services for online purchases according to somearrangements;

FIG. 2A is a diagram of an example of the user device of the system setforth in FIG. 1, according to some arrangements;

FIG. 2B is a diagram of an example of the provider computing system ofthe system set forth in FIG. 1, according to some arrangements; and

FIG. 3 is a flow chart of a process of providing payment escrow servicesfor online purchases, according to some arrangements.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

One or more example arrangements described herein relate to systems,apparatuses, and methods for implementing Artificial Intelligence (AI)to provide automated payment escrow services for online purchases andelectronic payments. The AI system automatically processes pendingpurchase orders to hold the payment information in escrow for a windowof time, and notifies a merchant of the pending purchase order toreserve the goods and/or services while withholding the paymentinformation from the merchant. Accordingly, while the window of time ispending, the user is enabled to make changes to or cancel the pendingpurchase order, while still reserving the goods or services at theoffered price point. In some arrangements, the AI system automaticallysubmits the payment information to the merchant at the expiration of thewindow of time, so that the pending purchase order can be processed bythe merchant as a normal purchase order (e.g., for payment anddelivery). In some arrangements, the AI system provides reminders to theuser of the pending purchase order, and captures emotion detection datawhen the user views the reminders. In some arrangements, the AI systemprovides a recommendation to the user to modify, cancel, or proceed withthe pending purchase order based on external data, the emotion detectiondata, and/or historical transaction data. As used in this specification,the terms “automatic” or “automatically” are defined as pertaining to anelectronically carried out action that does not require outside (eitherhuman or machine) intervention to be scheduled, triggered, executed,and/or completed.

In general, the arrangements of the AI system described herein automateescrow services for online purchases that has not been previouslyautomated. The AI system may be provided on the user device that a userused to make the purchase. The AI system described herein can provideautomated escrow services for online purchases for any suitable onlineshopping website without having to change the code or functionality ofthe online shopping website. For example, the AI system detects when auser has navigated to a payment page within the online shopping websiteand can automatically append the escrow purchase option (or “hold now”option) on the payment page without any intervention from the onlineshopping website. The systems and methods disclosed herein can beadapted to monitor customers' account information, historicaltransaction data, merchant data, 3^(rd) party data, and other data andactivities to identify relevant information associated with the pendingpurchase, to provide a recommendation to the user as to whether thepending purchase should be cancelled or modified.

The arrangements of the AI system described herein improvecomputer-related technology by performing certain steps that cannot bedone by conventional provider institution systems or human actors. Forexample, the AI system is configured to proactively detect a user'sactivities over the World Wide Web using any suitable web browser, andcan adapt the payment page of any suitable online shopping website toprovide the payment escrow services described herein. In somearrangements, to achieve benefits over conventional systems havingdatabases, tables, and field definitions that are static, the databasesdescribed herein may be data-type agnostic and configured to storedifferent information for different users, transaction types, and thelike. Furthermore, to achieve benefits over conventional databases andto solve a technical problem of improving dimensional scalability thedata stored in multidimensional form may be aggregated and/or storedusing improved methods. For example, various attributes of the pendingpurchase order (e.g., payment vehicle, goods and services, deliveryinformation, and/or the like) may be dynamically modified and/oradjusted after being stored when the data is retrieved for analysisand/or forwarded for payment for delivery of the goods or services.

FIG. 1 is a diagram of an example of a system 100 for providingautomated payment escrow services for online purchases according to somearrangements. Referring to FIG. 1, a user (e.g., a consumer, a customer,an authorized account user, or originator) of a user device 102 is acustomer of a provider institution associated with a provider computingsystem 104. The user of the user device 102 may be any suitable entity(e.g., an individual, a company, or the like). In some arrangements, theprovider institution may be a financial institution. Accordingly, theuser may have an account (e.g., checking account, savings account,credit account, mortgage account, and/or the like) established with theprovider institution, and the provider institution may store informationcorresponding to the user. For example, the provider institution maystore a profile corresponding to the user in a data store (e.g., accountdatabase 240 in FIG. 2 or the like) accessible by the provider computingsystem 104. In some arrangements, the profile corresponding to the usermay include information corresponding to the user, such as, for example,name, address, telephone number, business type, industry type, businesshours, working days or non-working days, number of employees, net worth,assets, liabilities, and/or the like.

In some arrangements, the provider institution can collect and storetransactional information (e.g., the payment information) in the courseof dealing (e.g., processing transactions, offering products/services,and the like) with the user and other customers of the providerinstitution. For example, the user may operate the electronic device 102to initiate an electronic transaction via the provider computing system104 or via the merchant system 106 to make a payment to a beneficiary ofthe merchant system 106. The beneficiary may be any suitable entity(e.g., a merchant, an individual, a company, or the like). The merchantsystem 106 may be associated with any suitable online shopping site(e.g., online store, online catalog, and/or the like). The electronictransaction may be processed by the provider computing system 104, andtransactional information corresponding to the electronic transactionmay be collected and stored. In some arrangements, the transactionalinformation may include, for example, information corresponding to thebeneficiary (e.g., name, account and routing number, location oraddress, industry or business, and/or the like), transaction type,location where the transaction was initiated, amount of the transaction,date of the transaction, time of the transaction, and/or the like.

In some arrangements, the user may access an online store or an onlinecatalog via the user device 102. In some arrangements, the online storeor the online catalog may be presented to the user via the providercomputing system 104 or via the merchant system 106. For example, insome arrangements, the online store or the online catalog may offergoods and services for sale by the provider institution or itsaffiliates. In another example, in some arrangements, the online storeor the online catalog may offer goods and services for sale by themerchant (or beneficiary) of the merchant system 106. For example, insome arrangements, the merchant system 106 may provide access to theonline store or the online catalog to the provider computing system 104via any suitable application programming interface (API) to present theonline store, the online catalog, or the contents thereof to the user onthe user device 102 via the provider computing system 104. In stillanother example, in some arrangements, the user may operate the userdevice 102 to directly access the online store or the online catalogprovided by the merchant system 106 (e.g., without first interactingwith the provider computing system 104). In this case, the providercomputing system 104 may provide purchase escrow services for themerchant system 106.

In some arrangements, the user may operate the user device 102 to browsethe online store or the online catalog to purchase a good or servicefrom the online store or the online catalog. For example, in somearrangements, the user may interact with the online store or onlinecatalog by interacting with an application downloaded or otherwiseinstalled on the user device 102. The application may be associated withthe provider computing system 104 or the merchant system 106. In anotherexample, the user may interact with the online store or online catalogassociated with the provider computing system 104 or the merchant system106 by interacting with a web browser that is installed on the userdevice 102. In this case, the user may interact with the online store oronline catalog by accessing a website associated with the providercomputing system 104 or the merchant system 106 via the web browser overthe World Wide Web. However, the present disclosure is not limitedthereto, and in other embodiments, the user may interact with the onlinestore or online catalog via any suitable interface, program,application, widget, and/or the like that is installed or otherwiseprovided on the user device 102.

In some arrangements, when the user purchases a good or service from theonline store or online catalog, the user provides payment information(e.g., by filling out fields in an electronic form), and places (e.g.,submits) a purchase order for payment and delivery of the good orservice. In some arrangements, when the user submits the purchase ordervia the user device 102, the provider computing system 104 intercepts orotherwise receives the purchase order. In some arrangements, theprovider computing system 104 holds the purchase order in a purchaseorder escrow. In some arrangements, the provider computing system 104generates a notification for a purchase hold, and sends the notificationto the merchant system 106 to reserve the goods and/or servicesassociated with the pending purchase held in the purchase order escrowfor inventory planning purposes. However, in various arrangements, theprovider computing system 104 withholds the payment information from themerchant, and instead, holds the payment information in the purchaseorder escrow for a window of time (e.g., predetermined or user defined).Thus, for example, the notification may include pending purchaseinformation corresponding to the identity of the good(s) or service(s)associated with the purchase order, the price point for the good(s) orservice(s), the length of the window of time that the paymentinformation will be withheld in escrow, and/or the like, but excludesthe payment information.

Accordingly, in some embodiments, the user is free to make changes to orcancel the pending purchase order held in the purchase order escrowbefore the window of time has lapsed. If the user has not modified orcancelled the pending purchase order before the window of time haslapsed, the provider computing system 104 automatically submits orotherwise provides the payment information in the purchase order escrowto the merchant at the expiration of the window of time. The merchantcan then process the pending purchase order as a normal purchase orderfor payment and fulfillment (e.g., scheduled for delivery) under theterms of the original purchase order (e.g., at the agreed upon price).On the other hand, if the user later desires to make modifications tothe purchase order held in the purchase order escrow or has a change ofheart while the window of time is pending, the user is free to cancel ormodify the purchase order (e.g., change the good(s) or service(s),change the provided payment instrument, and/or the like). Thus, the useris provided additional time to consider the purchase, while reservingthe desired good or service at the offered price point, and the merchantis notified of the pending purchase information for inventory planningpurposes.

Still referring to FIG. 1, in some arrangements, the provider computingsystem 104 may be connected to one or more 3^(rd) party systems 110 tocollect (e.g., via API) or otherwise receive 3^(rd) party data includingrelevant information associated with the pending purchase. For example,in some arrangements, the provider computing system 104 may collect orotherwise receive public records data (e.g., entity, corporation, orother business data) from a public records service, news data from anews service, documents and other document-related data from a documentservice, media (e.g., video, images, audio, social media, etc.) from amedia service, authority data from an authority alert service, and/orthe like. In some embodiments, the 3^(rd) party data may include reviewsof the goods or services associated with the purchase order held in thepurchase order escrow, competing offers from other merchants, comparablegoods or services offered for sale, news articles corresponding to thegoods or services, social media postings corresponding to the goods orservices, and/or the like. In some arrangements, the provider computingsystem 104 analyzes the 3^(rd) party data to provide relevantinformation associated with the pending purchase as a recommendation tothe user while the window of time is pending, so that the user can makean informed decision of whether the pending purchase should be cancelledor modified.

In some arrangements, the user device 102, provider computing system104, merchant system 106, and 3^(rd) party systems 110 arecommunicatively connected to each other via a communication network 112.The communication network 112 is any suitable Local Area Network (LAN)or Wide Area Network (WAN). For example, the communication network 112can be supported by Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA), TimeDivision Multiple Access (TDMA), Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA)(particularly, Evolution-Data Optimized (EVDO)), Universal MobileTelecommunications Systems (UMTS) (particularly, Time DivisionSynchronous CDMA (TD-SCDMA or TDS), Wideband Code Division MultipleAccess (WCDMA), Long Term Evolution (LTE), evolved Multimedia BroadcastMulticast Services (eMBMS), High-Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA),and the like), Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (UTRA), Global Systemfor Mobile Communications (GSM), Code Division Multiple Access 1× RadioTransmission Technology (1×), General Packet Radio Service (GPRS),Personal Communications Service (PCS), 802.11X, ZigBee, Bluetooth,Wi-Fi, any suitable wired network, combinations thereof, and/or thelike. The communication network 112 is structured to permit the exchangeof data, values, instructions, messages, and/or the like among the userdevice 102, the provider computing system 104, the merchant system 106,and the 3^(rd) party systems 110.

FIG. 2A is a diagram of an example of the user device 102 of the system100 set forth in FIG. 1, according to some arrangements. FIG. 2B is adiagram of an example of the provider computing system 104 of the system100 set forth in FIG. 1, according to some arrangements. Referring toFIGS. 1 and 2A, a user (consumer, customer, authorized account user, ororiginator) 101 operates or otherwise interacts with the user device102. The user 101 may be any suitable entity (e.g., an individual, acompany, or the like). The user device 102 may be any suitable device(e.g., a desktop computer, laptop, tablet, smart phone, mobile phone, orthe like).

In some arrangements, the user device 102 includes a processing circuit202 having a processor 204 and memory 206. The processor 204 can beimplemented with a general-purpose processor, an Application SpecificIntegrated Circuit (ASIC), one or more Field Programmable Gate Arrays(FPGAs), a Digital Signal Processor (DSP), a group of processingcomponents, or other suitable electronic processing components. Thememory 206 can be implemented with a Random Access Memory (RAM),Read-Only Memory (ROM), Non-volatile RAM (NVRAM), Flash Memory, harddisk storage, and other suitable electronic storage. The memory 206stores data and/or computer code for facilitating the various processesdescribed herein. The memory 206 stores instructions or programminglogic that, when executed by the processor 204, controls the operationsof the user device 102. Moreover, the memory 206 is or includestangible, non-transient volatile memory or non-volatile memory.Accordingly, the memory 206 includes database components, object codecomponents, script components, or any other type of informationstructure for supporting the various activities and informationstructures described herein.

The user device 102 is shown to include various circuits and logic forimplementing the activities described herein. For example, the userdevice 102 includes one or more of the processing circuit 202, networkinterface 208, input circuit 210, output circuit 212, a banking clientapplication 214, a shopping client application 218, a camera 224, anInternet browser 226, and/or the like. While various circuits,interfaces, and logic with particular functionality are shown, it shouldbe understood that the user device 102 includes any number of circuits,interfaces, and logic for facilitating the functions described herein.For example, the activities of multiple circuits may be combined as asingle circuit and implemented on a same processing circuit (e.g., theprocessing circuit 202), or additional circuits with additionalfunctionality may be further included. For example, while FIG. 2A showsthat the banking client application 214 and the shopping clientapplication 218 are separate applications, in other arrangements, thebanking client application 214 and the shopping client application 218may be combined, or at least one of the banking client application 214and the shopping client application 218 may be omitted.

The network interface 208 is configured for and structured to establisha communication session via the communication network 112 with theprovider computing system 104. The network interface 208 may include anyof a cellular transceiver (for cellular standards), local wirelessnetwork transceiver (for 802.11X, ZigBee, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, or thelike), wired network interface, a combination thereof (e.g., both acellular transceiver and a Bluetooth transceiver), and/or the like.

The input circuit 210 is configured to receive user input from the user101. The output circuit 212 is configured to output information in theform of graphics, sound, tactile feedback (e.g., vibrations), and thelike. In this regard, the input circuit 210 and the output circuit 212are structured to exchange data, communications, instructions, and thelike with an input/output component of the user device 102. Accordingly,in some arrangements, the input circuit 210 and the output circuit 212can be combined into an input/output circuit that includes or isconnected to an input/output device such as, but not limited to, adisplay device, touchscreen, keyboard, microphone, and/or the like. Insome arrangements, the input/output circuit includes communicationcircuitry for facilitating the exchange of data, values, messages, andthe like between the input/output device and the components of the userdevice 102. In some arrangements, the input circuit 210 and the outputcircuit 212 include machine-readable media for facilitating the exchangeof information between the input/output device and the components of theuser device 102. In still other arrangements, the input circuit 210 andthe output circuit 212 may include any combination of hardwarecomponents (e.g., a touchscreen), communication circuitry, andmachine-readable media.

In some arrangements, one or more of the banking client application 214and the shopping client application 218 may be server-based applicationsexecutable on the user device 102. In this regard, the user 101 maydownload the banking client application 214 and/or the shopping clientapplication prior to usage, or at least one of the banking clientapplication 214 or the shopping client application may be pre-installed(e.g., by a manufacturer, distributor, service provider, or the like) onthe user device 102. In another arrangement, the banking clientapplication 214 and/or shopping client application 218 are coded intothe memory 206 of the user device 110. In still another arrangement, thebanking client application 214 and/or shopping client application 218are web-based interface applications. In this case, the user 101 logsonto or otherwise accesses the web-based interface. In this regard, atleast one of the banking client application 214 and shopping clientapplication 218 is supported by a separate computing system comprisingone or more servers, processors, network interface modules, etc., thattransmit the applications for use to the user device 102. In anarrangement, one or more of the banking client application 214 and/orshopping client application 218 include an API and/or a SoftwareDevelopment Kit (SDK) that facilitate integration of other applications.All such variations and combinations are intended to fall within thespirit and scope of the present disclosure.

The banking client application 214 is communicably coupled to theprovider computing system 104 (e.g., the account database 240) via thecommunication network 112, and is structured to permit management of atleast one account of the user 101 via the banking client application214. In this regard, the banking client application 214 providesindicative displays (or dashboards) of account information such as, butnot limited to, current account balances, pending transactions, profileinformation (e.g., contact information), rewards associated with theaccount, bill pay information and/or the like. In some examples, a billpay option is provided by the banking client application 214, where thebill pay option allows the user 101 to pay bills in response to userinput. For example, a user may initiate via the banking clientapplication 214 a transfer or payment (e.g., a wire transfer) from anaccount (e.g., checking or savings) associated with the user 101 to anaccount associated with a designated beneficiary. The account associatedwith the designated beneficiary may be established with the sameprovider institution 103 or a different provider institution.

Thus, via the banking client application 214, the user 101 may pay bills(e.g., credit card, mortgage, and the like), view balances, paymerchants or trading partners (e.g., suppliers and vendors), andotherwise manage accounts. Accordingly, the banking client application214 includes an account information circuit 216. The account informationcircuit 216 is linked or otherwise connected to one or more accounts (asstored in the account database 240) associated with the user 101, andpermits management of the associated accounts (e.g., transfer balancesbetween accounts, view payment history, and the like) by communicatingwith the provider computing system 104. In some arrangements, thebanking client application 214 is communicably connected to the shoppingclient application 218. As such, in response to an online purchase viathe shopping client application 218, the shopping client application 218causes the banking client application 214 to update the accountassociated with an online payment for the online purchase. Accordingly,in some arrangements, the applications 214 and 218 may be communicablyconnected to each other to enable actions supported by each respectiveapplication.

The shopping client application 218 is communicably coupled to theprovider computing system 104 (e.g., the account database 240, themerchants database, and/or the like) via the communication network 112.In some arrangements, the shopping client application 218 may be anonline shopping application that offers goods and services for sale fromthe provider computing institution 104 and/or the merchant system 106.In this regard, the shopping client application 218 provides interactivedisplays (or dashboards) of an online shop or online catalog offeringgoods and services for purchase over the network 112, and the user 101may browse the online shop or online catalog via the shopping clientapplication 218 to purchase the goods and services. Thus, via theshopping client application 218, the user 101 may purchase goods andservices, track deliveries, request refunds, and/or the like.

In various arrangements, the shopping client application 218 enables auser to purchase goods and services as pending purchases held in escrow,and to manage the pending purchases held in escrow. For example, in somearrangements, when the user selects a good or service for purchase andhas navigated to a payment information page within the shopping clientapplication 218, the user is prompted to provide the payment informationto purchase the selected good or service. When submitting the paymentinformation, the user is presented a “buy now” purchase option and a“hold now” purchase option. In some arrangements, each of the “buy now”purchase option and the “hold now” purchase option may be presented asan interactive element (e.g., a button, link, and/or the like)selectable by the user. If the user selects the “buy now” purchaseoption, the purchase is processed as a normal purchase order, and thus,the payment information is normally processed for payment andfulfillment (e.g., scheduled for delivery) by the provider computingsystem 104 or the merchant system 106 associated with the shoppingclient application 218. On the other hand, if the user selects the “holdnow” purchase option, the selected good(s) or service(s) is reserved forinventory planning purposes and the offered price point is locked-in(e.g., by the provider computing system 104 or the merchant system 106)as in the case of a normal purchase order, but the payment informationis held in escrow for a window of time (e.g., a predetermined time)during which the payment information is not processed. Instead, thepurchase is a pending purchase order where the provided paymentinformation is automatically processed after the window of time haslapsed.

In some arrangements, while the window of time is pending, the user mayallocate funds to the payment vehicle (e.g., checking account, savingsaccount, credit card account, and/or the like) associated with thepayment information, change the payment vehicle, cancel the purchaseorder, modify the purchase order, request funds from other partiesassociated with the purchase, solicit input from friends or family,and/or the like. Unless the pending purchase order is modified orcancelled before the window of time lapses, the provided paymentinformation is automatically processed for payment and fulfillment(e.g., scheduled for delivery) at the expiration of the window of time.

Accordingly, in some arrangements, the shopping client application 218enables the user to manage the pending purchase order, and sendsnotifications to the user device 102 to remind the user of the pendingpurchase order. For example, in some embodiments, the shopping clientapplication 218 may notify the user of the user device 102 when thewindow of time is close to expiration, when a pending purchase order hasbeen created, when the user is solicited for input with regards to apending purchase order created by another, when a message is receivedfrom the merchant or the supplier, and/or the like. In somearrangements, the shopping client application 218 may send periodicreminders to the user to solicit user input corresponding to a pendingpurchase order. For example, in some embodiments, the shopping clientapplication 218 may periodically cause a notification message to appearon the user device to remind the user of the upcoming pending purchase,and/or to solicit input from the user.

In more detail, in some arrangements, the shopping client application218 includes a purchase tracking circuit 220. In some arrangements, inresponse to the user submitting a purchase order by selecting the “holdnow” purchase option, the purchase tracking circuit 220 submits apending purchase order corresponding to the submitted purchase order tothe provider computing system 104 to be processed as a pending purchaseorder held in escrow. For example, in some arrangements, the purchasetracking circuit 220 may simply transmit the originally submittedpurchase order to the provider computing system 104 to be processed as apending purchase order held in escrow. In another example, the purchasetracking circuit 220 may first format the submitted purchase order toinclude data, attributes, parameters, and/or identifiers used by theprovider computing system 104 to identify and process the submittedpurchase order as a pending purchase order. For example, in someembodiments, the purchase tracking circuit 220 may append a uniqueidentifier to the submitted purchase order that is used by the providercomputing system 104 to distinguish between normal purchase orders andpending purchase orders. In yet another example, the purchase trackingcircuit 220 may extract relevant information (e.g., payment information,merchant information, selected good or service for purchase, and/or thelike) from the submitted purchase order, and may generate the pendingpurchase order from the extracted information having a suitable formatused by the provider computing system 104 to process the pendingpurchase order. In still another example, the purchase tracking circuit220 may transmit the submitted purchase order to an allocated address(e.g., a port, internet protocol IP address, uniform resource locator(URL), and/or the like) associated with the provider computing system104 for processing pending purchase orders.

In some arrangements, the shopping client application 218 enables theuser to manage one or more pending purchase orders. For example, in somearrangements, the user may manage notification settings and/orpreferences, request an extension of the window of time, modify thepayment instrument provided in the submitted payment information, changethe payment instrument, cancel the pending purchase order, remove a goodor service from the pending purchase order, add a good or service to thepending purchase order, solicit input from friends or family for thegoods or services in the pending purchase order, provide input tofriends and family for a good or service in a pending purchase ordercreated by the user or by another, send messages to the merchant orsupplier associated with the good or service, change a delivery addressfor the pending purchase order, and/or the like.

In some arrangements, the shopping client application 218 may detect auser's emotions with respect to a pending purchase. For example, in somearrangements, the shopping client application 218 includes an emotiondetection circuit 222 configured to periodically solicit the user foruser input corresponding to the user's emotions with respect to apending purchase. For example, in some arrangements, the emotiondetection circuit 222 may solicit the user for a selection of a thumbsup icon or a thumbs down icon representing the user's emotional statewith respect to a pending purchase. In another example, the emotiondetection circuit 222 is configured to control a camera 224 on the userdevice 102 to capture the user's facial expressions when viewing anotification of the approaching pending purchase. In this example, theemotion detection circuit 222 or the provider computing system 104 mayhave suitable facial detection algorithms or image processing algorithmsto detect the user's emotions from the facial expressions captured bythe camera 224. For example, if the user's facial expressions expressdispleasure in response to the reminder of the upcoming pendingpurchase, the emotion detection circuit 222 or the provider computingsystem 104 can infer that the user is upset or unhappy about theupcoming pending purchase. On the other hand, if the user's facialexpressions express joy in response to the reminder of the upcomingpending purchase, the emotion detection circuit 222 or the providercomputing system 104 can infer that the user is happy about the upcomingpending purchase. The provider computing system 104 may use the detectedemotional state of the user to generate a recommendation correspondingto the pending purchase order.

Still referring to FIG. 2A, in some arrangements, the Internet browser226 is a software application that is installed (e.g., pre-installed ordownloaded) on the user device 102, and enables the user to accessinformation on the World Wide Web (e.g., via the network 112). Thus, insome arrangements, the Internet browser 226 is structured to facilitateonline shopping from any suitable online shopping website accessible viathe World Wide Web. For example, in various arrangements, the Internetbrowser 226 may be any suitable web browser (e.g., Internet Explorer,Chrome, Safari, Fire Fox, Opera, and/or the like) that enables the userto access an online shopping website over the World Wide Web to browsegoods and services offered for sale, purchase goods and services, trackdeliveries, request refunds, and/or the like, without the need ofdownloading or installing a separate client application (e.g., theshopping client application 218). Accordingly, via the Internet browser226, the user can purchase goods and services from the online shoppingwebsite via the World Wide Web through the normal purchase orderprocessing procedure (e.g., the “buy now” purchase option) nativelyassociated with the online shopping website.

According to various arrangements, the Internet browser 226 enables theuser to purchase goods and services from any suitable online shoppingwebsite over the World Wide Web as pending purchases held in escrow asdescribed according to one or more arrangements herein. For example, insome arrangements, the Internet browser 226 is configured to detect(e.g., via a URL or via electronic form data) when the user hasnavigated to a payment information page within an online shoppingwebsite via the Internet browser 226, and in response, automaticallyappends the “hold now” purchase option on the payment information page.For example, in some arrangements, when the Internet browser 226retrieves the payment information page for display, the Internet browser226 may insert code associated with the “hold now” purchase option intothe retrieved payment information page prior to displaying the paymentinformation page to the user. In another example, the Internet browser226 may overlay a pop-up window corresponding to the “hold now” purchaseoption over a suitable location on the payment information page. In yetanother example, the Internet browser 226 may embed an inline frame(iframe) corresponding to the “hold now” purchase option at a suitablelocation on the payment information page. In other examples, anothertype of add-on application can be provided to the Internet browser 226to augment the manner in which the Internet browser 226 functions toprovide the “hold now” option as described.

Accordingly, in various arrangements, the user can optionally select the“hold now” purchase option provided by the Internet browser 226 on thenative payment information page of the online shopping website toutilize the purchase order escrow services provided by the providercomputing system 104. Thus, the purchase order escrow features describedwith reference to the shopping client application 218 can be seamlesslyimplemented for any suitable online shopping website without the need ofa separate client application, or without having to modify the code orfunctionality of the online shopping website. Accordingly, the Internetbrowser 226 is communicably connected to the provider computing system104 via the communication network 112 to facilitate processing of thepending purchase orders from any suitable online shopping web siteaccessible over the World Wide Web.

In more detail, in some arrangements, the Internet browser 226 includesa purchase tracking plug-in 228, which may be similar to the purchasetracking circuit 220 of the shopping client application 218. In somearrangements, the purchase tracking plug-in 228 is communicativelycoupled to the provider computing system 104, and is configured toprovide purchase orders to the provider computing system 104 to beprocessed as pending purchase orders held in escrow. In somearrangements, the purchase tracking plug-in 228 is an add-on, add-in, orextension that augments (e.g., adds) the “hold now” feature as well asother features described herein to the Internet browser 226. It thatregard, the purchase tracking plug-in 228 is configured to be coupled tothe application program interface (API) of the internet browser 226.However, the present disclosure is not limited thereto, and in otherarrangements, the functions and features of the purchase trackingplug-in 228 may be coded in the software application of the Internetbrowser 226.

In some arrangements, the purchase tracking plug-in 228 monitors theuser's activities over the World Wide Web via the Internet browser 226,and detects when the user has navigated to a payment information pagewithin an online shopping web site (e.g., via a URL and/or electronicform fields). In some arrangements, in response to submitting a purchaseorder by selecting the “hold now” purchase option, the purchase trackingplug-in 228 submits a pending purchase order corresponding to thesubmitted purchase order to the provider computing system 104 to beprocessed as a pending purchase order held in escrow. For example, insome arrangements, the purchase tracking plug-in 228 may simply transmitthe originally submitted purchase order to the provider computing system104 to be processed as a pending purchase order held in escrow. Inanother example, the purchase tracking plug-in 228 may first format thesubmitted purchase order to include data, attributes, parameters, and/oridentifiers used by the provider computing system 104 to identify andprocess the submitted purchase order as a pending purchase order. Forexample, in some embodiments, the purchase tracking plug-in 228 mayappend a unique identifier to the submitted purchase order that is usedby the provider computing system 104 to distinguish between normalpurchase orders and pending purchase orders. In yet another example, thepurchase tracking plug-in 228 may extract relevant information (e.g.,payment information, merchant information, selected good or service forpurchase, and/or the like) from the submitted purchase order, and maygenerate the pending purchase order from the extracted informationhaving a suitable format used by the provider computing system 104 toprocess the pending purchase order. In still another example, thepurchase tracking plug-in 228 may transmit the submitted purchase orderto an allocated address (e.g., a port, internet protocol IP address,uniform resource locator (URL), and/or the like) associated with theprovider computing system 104 for processing pending purchase orders.

Accordingly, in various arrangements, the provider computing system 104receives pending purchase orders from the shopping client application218 and/or the Internet browser 226. In various arrangements, theprovider computing system 104 holds the payment information in thepending purchase orders in escrow, and automatically submits orprocesses the payment information for payment and fulfillment (e.g.,delivery) upon the expiration of a window of time. Thus, the user isenabled to make changes to or cancel the pending purchase orders duringthe pendency of the window of time. In some embodiments, the providercomputing system 104 provides a notification to a merchant of themerchant system 106 corresponding to the pending purchase orders, butwithholds the payment information from the merchant. Thus, the merchantcan use the information provided in the notification for inventoryplanning purposes, but cannot process any payments corresponding to thepending purchase orders until the payment information is received at theexpiration of the window of time.

For example, referring now to FIGS. 1 through 2B, in some arrangements,the provider institution 103 is a financial institution or the likehaving at least one associated provider computing system 104. In somearrangements, the provider institution 103 provides products andservices such as, but not limited to, credit card accounts, mobilewallet, checking/saving accounts, retirement accounts, mortgageaccounts, loan accounts, investment accounts, and/or the like to theuser (or consumer) 101 via the provider computing system 104. However,the present disclosure is not limited thereto, and in other embodiments,the provider institution 103 may not be a financial institution, andinstead, may be associated with an online shopping provider that offersvarious goods and services for sale via the shopping client application218 and/or via a website that is accessible by the Internet browser 222over the World Wide Web. For example, in some arrangements, the providerinstitution 103 may provide an online store or an online catalogoffering various goods and services for sale by the provider institution103, its affiliates, or one or more merchants associated with one ormore merchant systems (e.g., the merchant system 106). In otherarrangements, the provider institution 103 may not offer an online storeor online catalog, but instead, may provide purchase order escrowservices for online shopping websites or online stores associated withone or more merchant systems (e.g., the merchant system 106).

Accordingly, in some arrangements, the provider computing system 104includes a processing circuit 232 including a processor 234 and a memorydevice 236. The processor 234 can be implemented with a general-purposeprocessor, an ASIC, one or more FPGAs, a DSP, a group of processingcomponents that are distributed over various geographic locations orhoused in a single location or device, or other suitable electronicprocessing components. The memory 236 can be implemented with RAM,NVRAM, ROM, Flash Memory, hard disk storage, cloud storage, and othersuitable electronic storage devices. The memory 236 stores data and/orcomputer code for facilitating at least some of the various processesdescribed herein. The memory 236 includes tangible, non-transientvolatile memory, or non-volatile memory. The memory 236 storesinstructions or programming logic that, when executed by the processor234, controls the operations of the provider computing system 104. Insome arrangements, the processor 234 and the memory 236 form variousprocessing circuits in the provider computing system 104.

As shown in FIG. 2B, the provider computing system 104 includes anetwork interface 238. The network interface 238 is structured forsending and receiving data over the communication network 112 (e.g., toand from the user device 102, the merchant system 106, the 3^(rd) partysystems 110, and/or the like). Accordingly, the network interface 238includes any of a cellular transceiver (for cellular standards), localwireless network transceiver (for 802.11X, ZigBee, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, orthe like), wired network interface, a combination thereof (e.g., both acellular transceiver and a Bluetooth transceiver), and/or the like.

In some arrangements, the provider computing system 104 includes anaccount database 240. In some arrangements, the account database 240 maystore customer profile information and account information relating toone or more accounts associated with the user 101 and other customers ofthe provider institution 103. For example, in some arrangements, theaccount database 240 stores transaction history data of transactions(e.g., payment transactions) made by the user 101 using one or moreaccounts and by other customers, for example, with the banking clientapplication 214 and/or other suitable applications. In somearrangements, the account database 240 stores the payment informationand other information corresponding to the pending purchase orders heldin escrow for the user and other customers of the provider institution103. In some arrangements, the provider computing system 104 accessesthe payment information and other information associated with thepending purchase orders stored in the account database 240 to generateand submit the purchase orders for payment and fulfillment at theexpiration of the window of time.

In some arrangements, the provider computing system 104 includes amerchants database 242. The merchants database 242 may be an internaldatabase with respect to the provider computing system 104 or anexternal database accessible by the provider computing system 104 (e.g.,via API). In some arrangements, the merchants database 242 may have aninternal database component and an external database component forstoring data corresponding to an external database maintained by themerchant system 106. In some arrangements, the internal databasecomponent may store configuration information and other datacorresponding to the merchant. For example, in some arrangements, themerchant may provide configuration information (e.g., parameters,expected form data, and/or the like) corresponding to the format inwhich the merchant system 106 expects to receive the notifications forprocessing pending purchase orders and to receive the purchase ordersfor payment and fulfillment at the expiration of the window of time. Insome arrangements, the configuration information may also includeacceptable window of time periods that the merchant is willing toreserve goods and services, and/or the like. In some arrangements, theexternal database component may store offerings data corresponding togoods or services offered from the merchant's online store or catalogassociated with the merchant. For example, in some arrangements, theprovider computing system 104 may have an interface to pull or receive(e.g., via an API or the like) the offerings data from the externaldatabase maintained by the merchant system 106 periodically, as needed,or desired. However, the present disclosure is not limited thereto, andin other arrangements, the external database component may be omitted sothat the provider computing system 104 does not store the offeringsdata, and instead, pulls or otherwise receives the offerings data fromthe external database maintained by the merchant periodically or asneeded or desired.

In some arrangements, the provider computing system 104 includes a3^(rd) party database 252 that stores 3^(rd) party data received fromthe 3^(rd) party systems 110. For example, the 3^(rd) party data mayinclude public records data (e.g., entity, corporation, or otherbusiness data) from a public records service (e.g., secretary of state),news data from a news service, documents and other document-related datafrom a document service, media (e.g., video, images, audio, socialmedia, etc.) from a media service, authority data from an authorityalert service, and/or the like. However, the present disclosure is notlimited thereto, and in some arrangements, the 3^(rd) party database 242may be omitted. For example, the provider computing system 104 may havean interface to pull or receive data (e.g., via an API) periodically, asneeded, or desired from one or more external databases associated withthe 3^(rd) party systems 110.

In some arrangements, the provider computing system 104 includes a rulesdatabase 254 for storing rules. In some arrangements, the providercomputing system 104 may use the rules to determine the conditions inwhich to notify the user of a pending purchase order. In somearrangements, the rules may be user-defined and/or automaticallygenerated. For example, in some arrangements, a user may define how tohandle pending purchase orders that are close to expiration (e.g., thewindow of time has lapsed) based on user preferences. For example, auser may define the circumstances in which the user should be alerted ofa pending purchase order that violate one or more of the rules. Inanother example, a user may define a rule to be notified hourly of apending purchase order on the day that the pending purchase order is setto expire. In yet another example, a user may define a rule toautomatically cancel a pending purchase order when a recommendationprovided by the provider computing system 104 (e.g., based on the 3^(rd)party data) is to not purchase the good or service. In still anotherexample, a user may define a rule to automatically proceed with anypending purchase orders having a payment due that is less than (or morethan) a threshold amount after a predetermined period of time has lapsed(e.g., 2 days). Similarly, a user may define a rule to automaticallycancel any pending purchase orders having a payment due that exceeds anaccount balance on the day that the pending purchase order is expectedto be processed for payment and fulfillment.

In some arrangements, the rules may be predefined or automaticallygenerated by the provider computing system 104. For example, predefinedrules may include default rules for any rule that the user does notspecifically define (or override) with a user-defined rule.Automatically generated rules may be automatically generated to overrideone or more default rules based on market trends, data mining, and/ormachine learning. In some arrangements, the rules may include exceptions(or whitelists) to one or more of the rules, in which the user definessituations in which a rule may be ignored. For example, while a generalrule to notify the user of a pending purchase only when a purchase priceof the pending purchase exceeds a particular threshold value may bedefined, the user may include an exception to the rule for a pendingpurchase from a particular account (e.g., a child's account) or for apending purchase of a particular type of good or service. In anotherexample, a user may define a rule to never proceed with submitting thepayment information when the goods or services are provided from aparticular merchant or for a particular type of good or service. Uponreceiving user-defined or automatically generated rules, the rules areindexed and stored in the rules database 254.

Still referring to FIG. 2B, in some arrangements, the provider computingsystem 104 includes a payment hold and authorize circuit 244. Thepayment hold and authorize circuit 244 processes the pending purchaseorders received from the shopping client application 218 and/or theInternet browser 226 to hold the pending purchase orders in escrow(e.g., store in the account database 240). For example, the payment holdand authorize circuit 244 can determine the good(s) and/or service(s)associated with the pending purchase order, the merchant (e.g., themerchant system 106) associated with the good(s) and/or service(s) thatshould be notified of the pending purchase order for inventory planningpurposes, the offered purchase price point for the good(s) and/orservice(s), the payment information provided by the user, and/or thelike. In some arrangements, the payment hold and authorize circuit 244generates a notification corresponding to the pending purchase order,and provides the notification to the merchant system 106 to reserve thegood(s) and/or service(s) associated with the pending purchase order.

For example, in some arrangements, the notification includes informationdesired by the merchant system 106 to reserve the good(s) and/orservice(s) associated with the pending purchase order, but excludes thepayment information. In some arrangements, the payment hold andauthorize circuit 244 analyzes external data (e.g., 3^(rd) party data,emotion detection data, and/or the like) corresponding to pendingpurchase order (e.g., the good(s) and/or service(s) associated with thepending purchase order) and provides a recommendation to the user toproceed with, cancel, or modify the pending purchase order.

Accordingly, in various arrangements, the payment hold and authorizecircuit 244 is communicatively connected to the account database 240,the merchants database 242, the 3^(rd) party database 252, the rulesdatabase 254, and/or other databases managed by or connected to theprovider computing system 104. For example, the payment hold andauthorize circuit 244 is connected to the account database 240 to access(e.g., query) the account/profile information and pending purchase orderinformation held in escrow for the user. The payment hold and authorizecircuit 244 is connected to the merchants database 242 to access (e.g.,query) the offering data and/or configuration data provided by themerchant system 106. The payment hold and authorize circuit 244 can alsocollect and analyze the 3^(rd) party data by accessing (e.g., querying)the 3^(rd) party database 252 or other external 3^(rd) party databases.Further, the payment hold and authorize circuit 244 is connected to therules database 254 to access (e.g., query) the user-defined and/orautomatically generated rules.

In some arrangements, the payment hold and authorize circuit 244 isoperatively connected to one or more of the components of the providercomputing system 104. For example, the payment hold and authorizecircuit 244 is connected to the network interface 238 for communicatingwith one or more of the user device 102 (e.g., the banking clientapplication 214, the shopping client application 218, and/or theInternet browser 226), the merchant system 106, and/or the 3^(rd) partysystems 110. In some arrangements, the payment hold and authorizecircuit 244 may be implemented with the processing circuit 232. Forexample, the payment hold and authorize circuit 244 can be implementedas a software application stored within the memory 236 and executed bythe processor 234. Accordingly, such examples can be implemented withminimal or no additional hardware costs. However, in other arrangements,the payment hold and authorize circuit 244 may be implemented ondedicated hardware specifically configured for performing the operationsof the payment hold and authorize circuit 244 described herein.

In more detail, in some arrangements, the payment hold and authorizecircuit includes a purchase hold circuit 246, a recommendation circuit248, and an authorization circuit 250. In some arrangements, thepurchase hold circuit 246 stores the pending purchase orders receivedfrom the shopping client application 218 and/or the Internet browser 226in the purchase order escrow of the account database 240. In somearrangements, the purchase hold circuit 246 analyzes the pendingpurchase orders to generate and send a notification to the merchantsystem (e.g., the merchant system 106) associated with the pendingpurchase order, so that the corresponding merchant can reserve thegood(s) and/or service(s) identified in the notification. For example,in some arrangements, the purchase hold circuit 246 generates thenotification to include information corresponding to the identity of thegood(s) or service(s) associated with the pending purchase order, theprice point for the good(s) or service(s), the length of the window oftime that the payment information will be withheld in escrow, and/or thelike. However, in some arrangements, the purchase hold circuit 246withholds the payment information associated with the pending purchaseorder from the merchant, and instead, stores the payment information inthe purchase order escrow for later retrieval (e.g., at the expirationof the window of time).

In some arrangements, the recommendation circuit 248 generates arecommendation corresponding to the pending purchase order, and providesthe recommendation to the user via the user device 102 during thependency of the window of time. For example, in some arrangements, therecommendation circuit 248 analyzes the 3^(rd) party data (e.g., storedin the 3^(rd) party database 242 or otherwise accessible by the providercomputing system 104) to identify relevant information concerning thegood(s) or service(s) associated with the pending purchase order, andprovides the relevant information to the user via the user device 102during the pendency of the window of time. For example, in somearrangements, the 3^(rd) party data may include relevant informationconcerning, for example, reviews of the goods or services associatedwith the pending purchase order, competing offers from other merchants,comparable goods or services offered for sale, news articlescorresponding to the goods or services, social media postingscorresponding to the goods or services, and/or the like. Accordingly,instead of the user having to directly research the good(s) and/orservice(s) associated with the pending purchase order by searching forand reading through available 3^(rd) party data to identify the relevantinformation, the recommendation circuit 248 analyzes the 3^(rd) partydata to automatically data mine for the relevant information, and therelevant information is provided to the user so that the user can decidewhether the pending purchase order should be cancelled or modified.

In some arrangements, the recommendation circuit 248 analyzes emotionalstate data provided by the emotion detection circuit 222 to generate arecommendation concerning the pending purchase order. For example, insome arrangements, the recommendation circuit 248 receives the user'sresponses (e.g., thumbs up, thumbs down, happy facial expression, sadfacial expression, neutral facial expression, and/or the like) to eachof the periodic reminders of the upcoming purchase from the emotiondetection circuit 222, and analyzes each of the responses to determineif the user is generally happy about the upcoming purchase, displeasedabout the upcoming purchase, or neutral about the upcoming purchase. Forexample, in some arrangements, the recommendation circuit 248 may assigna point value to each response, where a 1 is assigned for a positiveresponse, −1 is assigned for a negative response, and 0 is assigned fora neutral response. In this case, if the total value of the receivedresponses is a positive number, the recommendation circuit 248 may inferthat the user is generally happy about the upcoming purchase. On theother hand, if the total value of the received responses is a negativenumber, the recommendation circuit 248 may infer that the user isgenerally displeased about the upcoming purchase. Similarly, if thetotal value of the received responses is equal to or close to zero (0),the recommendation circuit 248 may infer that the user is generallyneutral about the upcoming purchase. However, the present disclosure isnot limited thereto, and in another example, the recommendation circuit248 may infer the user's emotional state based on an average value ofthe responses. In some arrangements, based on the determined emotionalstate, the recommendation circuit 248 may provide a correspondingrecommendation to the user to modify, cancel, or proceed with thepending purchase.

In some arrangements, the recommendation circuit 248 may analyze theuser's transaction histories or present and historical account balancesassociated with one or more accounts of the user established with theprovider institution 103 to generate a recommendation for the pendingpurchase. For example, if the user's transaction histories or accountbalances indicate that the user is generally financially unstable, therecommendation circuit 248 may recommend that the user not proceed withthe pending purchase. Similarly, in some arrangements, therecommendation circuit 248 may analyze the user's transaction historiesand historical account balances to forecast the user's financial statusat the time the pending purchase is scheduled to be submitted forpayment and delivery. For example, in some arrangements, therecommendation circuit 248 may identify monthly recurring payments thatare scheduled or expected to be made each month in order to forecast theuser's financial status.

In some arrangements, the authorization circuit 250 determines whethereach of one or more conditions are satisfied in order to authorize therelease of the payment information held in escrow to the merchant (e.g.,the merchant system 106) to process for payment and fulfillment (e.g.,delivery). For example, in the most basic sense, the one or moreconditions include at least a time corresponding to the window of timefor forwarding the payment information from the purchase order escrow tothe merchant for processing. In this case, if the window of time haslapsed and the pending purchase order has not yet been cancelled, thiscondition is satisfied and the provider computing system 104 isauthorized to forward the payment information for processing. Accordingto various arrangements, the one or more conditions can further includeother conditions that must be satisfied in order to release the paymentinformation to the merchant for payment and fulfillment. In somearrangements, the one or more conditions may be user-defined orautomatically generated and stored in the rules database 254. Forexample, if the purchase is a group purchase, the user may specify thatother users must provide authorization or must contribute to a portionof the purchase price before authorizing the release of the paymentinformation for payment and fulfillment. In this case, if the otherusers do not provide authorization or do not provide their contributionsto a portion of the purchase price before the window of time has lapsed,the release of the payment information is not authorized and the pendingpurchase order may be automatically cancelled. Similarly, in anotherexample, if the purchase requires authorization from a third party(e.g., a parent, guardian, manager, and/or the like), the release of thepayment information may not be authorized unless authorization from thethird party is provided before the window of time has lapsed. Thus, invarious arrangements, the authorization circuit 250 may access (e.g.,query) one or more user-defined or automatically generated rules storedin the rules database 254 to determine if each condition is satisfiedbefore authorizing the release of the payment information.

Accordingly, in various arrangements, the provider computing system 104processes pending purchase orders received from the shopping clientapplication 218 and/or the Internet browser 244 to withhold the paymentinformation from the merchant in escrow for a window of time. In somearrangements, the provider computing system 104 provides a notificationto the merchant system 106 corresponding to the pending purchase orderso that the merchant can reserve the good(s) and/or service(s) until theexpiration of the window of time. In some arrangements, the providercomputing system 104 releases the payment information to the merchantsystem 106 for processing and payment at the expiration of the window oftime. In some arrangements, the provider computing system 104 releasesthe payment information to the merchant system 106 only if one or moreuser-defined or automatically generated conditions (e.g., rules) aresatisfied prior to the expiration of the window of time. Thus, duringthe pendency of the window of time, the user is free to make changes tothe pending purchase order or to cancel the pending purchase order atany time before the expiration of the window of time.

FIG. 3 is a flow chart of a process of providing payment escrow servicesfor online purchases, according to some arrangements. Referring the FIG.3, the process starts, and a pending purchase order corresponding to apurchase of a good or service from an online store is received at block305. In some arrangements, the online store is presented to the userdevice via the shopping client application 218. In some arrangements,the online store is presented to the user device via the Internetbrowser 226. Thus, in various arrangements, the pending purchase orderis received from the shopping client application 218 or the Internetbrowser 226 in response to a selection of an interactive element (e.g.,the “hold now” option) presented on the payment page of the online storevia the user device 102. In some arrangements, the pending purchaseorder includes payment information provided by the user via the userdevice 102 on the payment page of the online store.

In some arrangements, the payment information corresponding to thepending purchase order is stored in an escrow database (e.g., theaccount database 240 or the like) at block 310 for a window of time.Further, a notification is generated corresponding to the pendingpurchase order at block 315. In some arrangements, the notification mayinclude information corresponding to the identity of the good(s) orservice(s) associated with the pending purchase order, the price pointfor the good(s) or service(s), the length of the window of time that thepayment information will be withheld in escrow, and/or the like, butexcludes the payment information. In some arrangements, the notificationis transmitted to a merchant system associated with the online store atblock 320. In some arrangements, the merchant system reserves the goodsor services associated with the pending purchase order at the offeredprice point for the length of the window of time based on thenotification.

In some arrangements, a recommendation corresponding to the good orservice associated with the pending purchase order is provided to theuser via the user device 102 during a pendency of the window of time atblock 325. In some arrangements, the recommendation includes 3^(rd)party data corresponding to the good or service. In some arrangements,the 3^(rd) party data includes, for example, reviews of the good orservice, competing offers, comparable goods or services, news articlescorresponding to the good or service, social media postingscorresponding to the good or service, and/or the like. In somearrangements, the recommendation is generated corresponding to emotiondetection data received from the emotion detection circuit 222. Forexample, in some arrangements, a reminder is provided on the user deviceof the pending purchase order and the emotion detection datacorresponding to an emotional state of the user in response to thereminder is captured. For example, in some arrangements, the remindersolicits the user for user input (e.g., a selection of a thumb up icon,a thumbs down icon, a smiley face icon, frowny face icon, and/or thelike), and the emotional state data is captured when the user providesthe user input. In another example, in some arrangements, when the userviews a reminder on the user device, a camera coupled to the user deviceis controlled to record an image of the user's face when viewing thereminder. In this case, the emotional state data is captured when theimage of the user's face is recorded by the camera.

In some arrangements, the expiration of the window of time is determinedat block 330. If the user has not cancelled or modified the pendingpurchase order before the expiration of the window of time, the paymentinformation associated with the pending purchase order is transmitted tothe merchant (e.g., the merchant system 106) at block 335 at theexpiration of the window of time. The merchant can then process thepending purchase order for payment and fulfillment (e.g., delivery), andthe process ends.

The arrangements described herein have been described with reference todrawings. The drawings illustrate certain details of specificarrangements that implement the systems, methods and programs describedherein. However, describing the arrangements with drawings should not beconstrued as imposing on the disclosure any limitations that may bepresent in the drawings.

It should be understood that no claim element herein is to be construedunder the provisions of 35 U.S.C. § 112(f), unless the element isexpressly recited using the phrase “means for.”

As used herein, the term “circuit” may include hardware structured toexecute the functions described herein. In some arrangements, eachrespective “circuit” may include machine-readable media for configuringthe hardware to execute the functions described herein. The circuit maybe embodied as one or more circuitry components including, but notlimited to, processing circuitry, network interfaces, peripheraldevices, input devices, output devices, sensors, etc. In somearrangements, a circuit may take the form of one or more analogcircuits, electronic circuits (e.g., integrated circuits (IC), discretecircuits, system on a chip (SOCs) circuits), telecommunication circuits,hybrid circuits, and any other type of “circuit.” In this regard, the“circuit” may include any type of component for accomplishing orfacilitating achievement of the operations described herein. Forexample, a circuit as described herein may include one or moretransistors, logic gates (e.g., NAND, AND, NOR, OR, XOR, NOT, XNOR),resistors, multiplexers, registers, capacitors, inductors, diodes,wiring, and so on.

The “circuit” may also include one or more processors communicativelycoupled to one or more memory or memory devices. In this regard, the oneor more processors may execute instructions stored in the memory or mayexecute instructions otherwise accessible to the one or more processors.In some arrangements, the one or more processors may be embodied invarious ways. The one or more processors may be constructed in a mannersufficient to perform at least the operations described herein. In somearrangements, the one or more processors may be shared by multiplecircuits (e.g., circuit A and circuit B may comprise or otherwise sharethe same processor which, in some example arrangements, may executeinstructions stored, or otherwise accessed, via different areas ofmemory). Alternatively or additionally, the one or more processors maybe structured to perform or otherwise execute certain operationsindependent of one or more co-processors. In other example arrangements,two or more processors may be coupled via a bus to enable independent,parallel, pipelined, or multi-threaded instruction execution. Eachprocessor may be implemented as one or more general-purpose processors,application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), field programmablegate arrays (FPGAs), digital signal processors (DSPs), or other suitableelectronic data processing components structured to execute instructionsprovided by memory. The one or more processors may take the form of asingle core processor, multi-core processor (e.g., a dual coreprocessor, triple core processor, quad core processor), microprocessor,etc. In some arrangements, the one or more processors may be external tothe apparatus, for example the one or more processors may be a remoteprocessor (e.g., a cloud based processor). Alternatively oradditionally, the one or more processors may be internal and/or local tothe apparatus. In this regard, a given circuit or components thereof maybe disposed locally (e.g., as part of a local server, a local computingsystem) or remotely (e.g., as part of a remote server such as a cloudbased server). To that end, a “circuit” as described herein may includecomponents that are distributed across one or more locations.

An exemplary system for implementing the overall system or portions ofthe arrangements might include a general purpose computing computers inthe form of computers, including a processing unit, a system memory, anda system bus that couples various system components including the systemmemory to the processing unit. Each memory device may includenon-transient volatile storage media, non-volatile storage media,non-transitory storage media (e.g., one or more volatile and/ornon-volatile memories), etc. In some arrangements, the non-volatilemedia may take the form of ROM, flash memory (e.g., flash memory such asNAND, 3D NAND, NOR, 3D NOR), EEPROM, MRAM, magnetic storage, hard discs,optical discs, etc. In other arrangements, the volatile storage mediamay take the form of RAM, TRAM, ZRAM, etc. Combinations of the above arealso included within the scope of machine-readable media. In thisregard, machine-executable instructions comprise, for example,instructions and data which cause a general purpose computer, specialpurpose computer, or special purpose processing machines to perform acertain function or group of functions. Each respective memory devicemay be operable to maintain or otherwise store information relating tothe operations performed by one or more associated circuits, includingprocessor instructions and related data (e.g., database components,object code components, script components), in accordance with theexample arrangements described herein.

It should also be noted that the term “input devices,” as describedherein, may include any type of input device including, but not limitedto, a keyboard, a keypad, a mouse, joystick or other input devicesperforming a similar function. Comparatively, the term “output device,”as described herein, may include any type of output device including,but not limited to, a computer monitor, printer, facsimile machine, orother output devices performing a similar function.

Any foregoing references to currency or funds are intended to includefiat currencies, non-fiat currencies (e.g., precious metals), andmath-based currencies (often referred to as cryptocurrencies). Examplesof math-based currencies include Bitcoin, Litecoin, Dogecoin, and thelike.

It should be noted that although the diagrams herein may show a specificorder and composition of method steps, it is understood that the orderof these steps may differ from what is depicted. For example, two ormore steps may be performed concurrently or with partial concurrence.Also, some method steps that are performed as discrete steps may becombined, steps being performed as a combined step may be separated intodiscrete steps, the sequence of certain processes may be reversed orotherwise varied, and the nature or number of discrete processes may bealtered or varied. The order or sequence of any element or apparatus maybe varied or substituted according to alternative arrangements.Accordingly, all such modifications are intended to be included withinthe scope of the present disclosure as defined in the appended claims.Such variations will depend on the machine-readable media and hardwaresystems chosen and on designer choice. It is understood that all suchvariations are within the scope of the disclosure. Likewise, softwareand web arrangements of the present disclosure could be accomplishedwith standard programming techniques with rule based logic and otherlogic to accomplish the various database searching steps, correlationsteps, comparison steps and decision steps.

The foregoing description of arrangements has been presented forpurposes of illustration and description. It is not intended to beexhaustive or to limit the disclosure to the precise form disclosed, andmodifications and variations are possible in light of the aboveteachings or may be acquired from this disclosure. The arrangements werechosen and described in order to explain the principals of thedisclosure and its practical application to enable one skilled in theart to utilize the various arrangements and with various modificationsas are suited to the particular use contemplated. Other substitutions,modifications, changes and omissions may be made in the design,operating conditions and arrangement of the arrangements withoutdeparting from the scope of the present disclosure as expressed in theappended claims, and their equivalents.

What is claimed:
 1. A computing system comprising: one or moreprocessors; and one or more computer-readable storage mediacommunicatively coupled to the one or more processors and havinginstructions stored thereon that, when executed by the one or moreprocessors, cause the one or more processors to: detect a user deviceassociated with a user has navigated to a payment page of an onlinestore; insert code associated with a purchase option into the paymentpage at a location prior to presenting the payment page on the userdevice, wherein the purchase option comprises a first interactiveelement selectable by the user device; receive a pending purchase orderfrom the user device in response to a selection of the first interactiveelement of the purchase option presented on the payment page of anonline store via the user device, the pending purchase ordercorresponding to a purchase of a good or service from the online storeand including payment information; store the payment information in anescrow database for a window of time; generate a notificationcorresponding to the pending purchase order, the notification includinginformation corresponding to the good or service and excluding thepayment information; transmit the notification to a merchant systemassociated with the online store to reserve the good or service duringpendency of the window of time; capture biometric state data of the userfrom the user device, wherein the user device captures the biometricstate data via an input circuit of the user device; assign a point valueto the biometric state data, wherein the point value has a magnitude andsign; generate a recommendation to cancel, proceed, or modify thepending purchase order based on an evaluation of the point value;provide the recommendation on the user device during the pendency of thewindow of time.
 2. The system of claim 1, wherein the instructionsfurther cause the one or more processors to: determine an expiration ofthe window of time; and transmit the payment information to the merchantsystem for payment and processing of the pending purchase order inresponse to the expiration of the window of time.
 3. The system of claim2, wherein the instructions further cause the one or more processors to:analyze third party data associated with the pending purchase orderbased on accessing a third party system communicably coupled to the oneor more processors via an application programming interface (API);generate a second recommendation to cancel, proceed, or modify thepending purchase order based on the third party data; and provide thesecond recommendation on the user device during the pendency of thewindow of time.
 4. The system of claim 3, wherein analyzing the thirdparty data further comprises searching the third party data to identifyrelevant information associated with the pending purchase order.
 5. Thesystem of claim 4, wherein the third party data includes reviews of thegood or service, competing offers, comparable goods or services, newsarticles corresponding to the good or service, or social media postingscorresponding to the good or service.
 6. The system of claim 3, whereinthe instructions further cause the one or more processors to: provide areminder on the user device of the pending purchase order.
 7. The systemof claim 6, wherein the capture of the biometric state data includes:presenting the reminder on the user device during the pendency of thewindow of time, wherein the reminder solicits the user for user inputcorresponding to the pending purchase order; and receiving the userinput as the biometric state data.
 8. The system of claim 6, wherein thecapture of the biometric state data includes: presenting the reminder onthe user device during the pendency of the window of time; controlling acamera coupled to the user device to record an image of the user's facewhen viewing the reminder; and receiving the recorded image as thebiometric state data.
 9. The system of claim 1, wherein the online storeis accessed via a client application associated with the online storethat is installed on the user device, and the purchase option ispresented by the client application.
 10. The system of claim 1, whereinthe online store is accessed via a web browser installed on the userdevice, and the purchase option is appended to the payment page of theonline store by the web browser installed on the user device.
 11. Amethod comprising: detecting, by one or more processors of a computingsystem, a user device has navigated to a payment page of an onlinestore; inserting, by the one or more processors, code associated with apurchase option into the payment page at a location prior to presentingthe payment page on the user device; receiving, by the one or moreprocessors, a pending purchase order from the user device in response toa selection of purchase option presented on the payment page of anonline store via the user device, the pending purchase ordercorresponding to a purchase of a good or service from the online storeand including payment information; storing, by the one or moreprocessors in an escrow database, the payment information for a windowof time, wherein the escrow database is communicably coupled to the oneor more processors; generating, by the one or more processors, anotification corresponding to the pending purchase order, thenotification including information corresponding to the good or serviceand excluding the payment information; and transmitting, by the one ormore processors, the notification to a merchant system associated withthe online store to reserve the good or service during pendency of thewindow of time, capturing, by the one or more processors, biometricstate data of the user from the user device, wherein the user devicecaptures the biometric state data via an input circuit of the userdevice; assigning, by the one or more processors, a point value to thebiometric state data, wherein the point value has a magnitude and sign;generating, by the one or more processors, a recommendation to cancel,proceed, or modify the pending purchase order based on an evaluation ofthe point value; providing the recommendation on the user device duringthe pendency of the window of time.
 12. The method of claim 11, furthercomprising: determining, by the one or more processors, an expiration ofthe window of time; and transmitting, by the one or more processors, thepayment information to the merchant system for payment and processing ofthe pending purchase order in response to the expiration of the windowof time.
 13. The method of claim 12, further comprising: analyzing, bythe one or more processors, third party data associated with the pendingpurchase order based on accessing a third party system communicablycoupled to the one or more processors via an application programminginterface (API); generating, by the one or more processors, a secondrecommendation to cancel, proceed, or modify the pending purchase orderbased on the third party data; and providing, by the one or moreprocessors, the second recommendation on the user device during thependency of the window of time.
 14. The method of claim 13, whereinanalyzing the third party data further comprises searching the thirdparty data to identify relevant information associated with the pendingpurchase order.
 15. The method of claim 14, wherein the third party dataincludes reviews of the good or service, competing offers, comparablegoods or services, news articles corresponding to the good or service,or social media postings corresponding to the good or service.
 16. Themethod of claim 13, further comprising: providing, by the one or moreprocessors, a reminder on the user device of the pending purchase order.17. The method of claim 16, wherein the capture of the biometric statedata includes: presenting the reminder on the user device during thependency of the window of time, wherein the reminder solicits the userfor user input corresponding to the pending purchase order; andreceiving the user input as the biometric state data.
 18. The method ofclaim 16, wherein the capture of the biometric state data includes:presenting the reminder on the user device during the pendency of thewindow of time; controlling a camera coupled to the user device torecord an image of the user's face when viewing the reminder; andreceiving the recorded image as the biometric state data.
 19. The methodof claim 11, wherein the online store is accessed via a clientapplication associated with the online store that is installed on theuser device, and the purchase option is presented by the clientapplication.
 20. The method of claim 11, wherein the online store isaccessed via a web browser installed on the user device, and thepurchase option is appended to the payment page of the online store bythe web browser installed on the user device.